Show H MANY MISSING I IN ST. ST LOUIS FIRE f kix IX BODIES I fOUND IN STREET I i Twenty Twenty seven seven Club Members Are Missing and Firemen L Unable to Search Ruins Today T odayl T nine Twenty Others Are Injured A. A z BULLETIN ST. ST LOUIS March 9 Six Six persons ue are known to be dead and their bodies I. I Jave uve been recovered and twenty four tour ing as 38 a result of ot the thi Missouri Ath letic club fire tire here bee today Th These fig fig- uri ar are given out in a a. statement issued by a committee of ot the club which is seeking a record of ot overy man known to have been registered a at the club last light I r For the twenty four miMing hope practically has been abandoned ST. ST LOUIS March 9 Six Six are arc known to t to bo be dead ead twenty six or twenty seven are te unaccounted for or and it is feared have ave perished and about nine twenty are injured as a result of a fire that destroyed d tho story seven building uil inH occupied oc by tho the Missouri Athletic club I t today The loss is estimated at more than tha-n The fire which occurred about 2 I f o'clock this morning wa was wag still burning g gt Bat at t io n. n and aud Firo Swingley said aid id L it- it be unsafe to send anyone in into o the ruins to search carch for the missing until tonight n or to tomorrow orio Hugo Sum in Bank Vaults Vault The building was as owned by r th the Boat Boat- r men's mens bank which occupied part of the thc first floor The bank opened temporary quarters this thiB mornin morning In In- Ina h a build building Dg four blocks away In the vaults of the tho burned building bank officials said are arc 1349 in currency cur cur- currency I rency and in in coin coin This money it is believed is IS' IS intact l The loss is is fully covered by bj insure Lance ance Damages Damages Adjoining B Buildings t The loss to adjoining buildings is cs- cs at 1 v Uncertainty as to tho the number of men in 20 the building when the fire started made it difficult to determine the exact umber number of missing Tear rear Seventy five Were in Rooms Jack er night clerk at the club dub said forty forty five five club members had bad rooms there and that the tho re registration of guests brought the total number at atthe tho the club for the night at seventy an all the tho regular guests in their rooms when WhO'D the fire be began an is not Dot known The cause of th the tire fire is not known Assistant Pin Fire Chief Rucker Bucker said he I found Jound the soon floor about the desk of the clerk caved in but that an adjoining part of the floor seemed to have havo been boen blown upward indicating that the fire was due to an explosion A fireman who climbed a fire escape of the building six ix hours after tho the fire was discovered f found un tho the blaze still sun burning on tho the fifth and seventh floors and the whole I interior caved oo in Started in Dining Room Boom Tho The fire is believed to have o started on the third floor of the tho b building which I occupied b by the dinin dining room On D this floor one man was 38 found de dead d. d The rhe two others known to be lead dead jumped from a story sixth window Woman Worna Gives Alarm f The fire was discovered disco by bj- an un- un i woman who was waiting with her escort for a taxicab Looking out o of the window of the clubhouse she paw jaw nw the tho reflection of the tho flames in a plate glass window across across' the tho street Rushing Rusbin to the tho clerk of the athletic club she cried Fire Firel Phone Boy Sticks to Post The Thc clerk lerk Jack and the tho knight night telephone operator r. r Norman Roe Continued on pao 2 2 MANY MISSING Continued from page 1 hogan began the truest nests eab Roe Boe rang lang th the telephones In n ninety eight ht sleeping rooms Meanwhile a n fire alarm ha bad been turned in bv by the night watchman of tho Boatmon bank This wa watchman watch watch- h. h man Charles Baumann was coming comin up p the stairs from the basement when besaw ho be saw tho the reflection of the tho flames arnes on the walls and ceiling of the tho bank Additional alarms were sounded and apparatus was rushed to the scene fene from all parts of the city Guests Jump From Window When the firemen arrived the club gusts guests h were jumping from windows wIndow in their night clothing others were clinging cling chug ing to the he window sills eUIs around which hi b smoke was pouring na a-na ana others were climbing down the tho fire escapes Some were making ropes out of sheets preparatory atory to lowering themselves from the win windows Flames Flame bursting through windows cut off the guests from the fire escape estape on the Fourth street side aide Streams of ot water were turned on the escape at the third thir floor and as firemen firemen fire fire- men called out ont encouraging words se several soy sev eral end persons descended through the streams to safety Walls on on Firemen Aft After r the fire bad had been burning an au hour bour the wall on the Fourth street side aide ide collapsed from tho the fourth floor up Firemen fell back to the wall wan of a building at the opposite side of the street treet and thus escaped the falling bricks One fireman however was struck b by bya a brick His leg was broken Assistant Fire Chief Ru Bucker ker said he be beard heard three explosions as he ho reached the burning building At first the theory was advanced ad that the explosions explosion were the work of ot safe blowers who had bad tried to rob the tho bank Later it was suggested that what seemed to be the sound of explosions ex ox- was tho the dropping of elevators to the basement The death of Josoph Joseph Chasnoff of St. St J Joseph osep-b Mo l advertising manager for forthe tho the St St. Louis Republic virtually was confirmed by Ernest Ern st Evans Evan who roomed at the club with Chasnoff II Chasnoff roused me when the tho alarm was sounded and we started out ont of the room hand in in band hand Evans said H In Inthe In Inthe Inthe the corridor Chasnoff was overcome bv by smoke and dropped away from me I looked for him bim for a few minutes and then had bad to run fun to save e my mr own lifo Outside I waited T a a. f few w minutes but be he did not come out I fear be he was Tras burn burned d to death Tho Missouri Athletic club dub occupied all but a part of the first floor of a a. story seven W t JI building ng at at the o corner rn r of W Washington t n avenue a a and F Fourth ur i-at i street et The remaining part of tho the floor was u occupied oc oe by tho the Boatmen's bank I IThe The hc building stood dood at the end ot at the St. St t. t Louis approach to the Eads Ends bridge brid e and at nt the head of ot the principal retail d district strict street of the city eity Examples of or Heroism Heroism bordering o on the superhuman was x both by ov Dy n firemen fireman mi n and IT na quests guests itt tc at the club The Tho firefighters time and again dodged td ones one failing falling wall wan only to find ld themselves under another mat mats of ot granite and brick Theodore Levy of or LouisvIlle Loul K Ky K clung to a window sill JIm until both his hands hand's were scorched p almost black Just Juet aa as he lie was about to I let t go so a fireman tIeman Imp grasped d him about the waist and carried him hire down a ladder At the city hospital rAW Levy later hater declared two of the men who ho had been killed jump jumped d from the wIndow to which he clun duns clung until reeC rescued ed Bravery of Manager and Wife Robert C. C MaltI manager of the club and his wife were aroused by the smoke They dl discovered ered ered eo the fire tire in the dining room on the third floor and before seekIng seek seek- ing their own safety rushed up and down the tho halls knocking on op doors doore and waking guests Both were ere badly burned about the face tace hands and te feet eat t. t All the municipal am ambulance and police pollee patrol wagons and automobiles automobiles' were pr pressed eed Into service to carry the wounded to the hospital Among Amon those tease who ho were fre In the th club atthe at at- atthe atthe the time of ot the fire but escaped was as Walter financial agent of or the S Louis Federal league baseball club dub Mar Mor- I Brown Brownt manager of the Federals Federal who arrived hero nero iero from New York la heat lut t night remained at the club until a few hours houra before tho the fire tire was wap discovered Collapsing Va Walls Us Threaten As the walls wails and floors caved ed In they sent showers of burning embers onto the roofs of the neighboring buildings and for a time Um threatened to cause a a. general conflagration In the heart of or the retail district To prevent this all aU the fire firefighting fighting apparatus ratus of ot the city was U brought to the scene The telephone operator a a. voun Joun bo boy remained d at hi his post on the ground floor loor even en aft after r the firemen be began an wa water ter into the building Many Marty oraD of the guests SlIest credited their escape to him Exploding B Boilers llers Add Terror At 6 o'clock this tIlls morning four our hours after the fire had halt been discovered erd the blaze blue was believed to b he under control Half an hour later however howe th the boilers in the tho basement of ot the tho building began to explode ano and for tho the first time th the firemen under tinder orders of ot their chief with drew drow from the streit immediately in front ont of the buU building It 11 was VoU feared th the last two remaining walls would collapse and bury bun them then The glare of the tire ire brought hou thousands ands of spectators to 10 the scene and the tho crowd greatly the work of or th the fIremen firemen fire fIre- m men n until driven back b by hI the police po Saw Men Jump to Street Judge e Corrick Bishop circuit attorney roomed d on the sixth floor The roar of or the flames flame crackling like gan giant Jant firecrackers awoke me mp said Judge e Bishop after t ter his escape from the burning rt structure Thank 7 God GOO there ther was is a fire tire escape In front of m my window h he f said fAld d. d I 1 ran down the six Ill flights I l saw several men mn Jump and bounce off ate the el sidewalk like k rubber balls 1 J WitH slightly bruised eto coming corning corn com 1 ing down the tho escape Searching for tor the Missing Tho The directors of oC the tho url Athletic club appointed A i. i committee of or four tour to got get geta gota Gt a n complete list of ot the tho missIng and of of those who uC escaped ped This committee es established established es- es I hed headquarters at the Press Preas club I and r requested all sU who wore were registered registered regis regis- I at the Missouri Athletic club dub to to notify them at once The committee is heeded headed b by balter Walter alter a stockholder of ot the local Federal league baseball club Survivors Tell Ten Terrible Tales Tale Stories of ot the fire were told at the cIt city hospital by persons who ho were we Injure 1 1 L. L L. L Leonard said ald he ho was wao asleep on lh the sixth floor of the building when he heas was sas as J I 1 awakened d by b smoke He He- Heran ran Into the corridor cor lid or but found the tire Ire escape cut off of b by flames I He ru rushed back to lO hIs Ills room and opened I a a. window overlooking a a. store building on I the west t Crawling out on the window windowsill I sill sl he h hung by the fingers on the ledge I until he the Intense heat forced him to 10 drop I to tho the roof of ot the tore building two I beJ below There Thero he was U picked up I unconscious clou t I William Koerner head houseman of the club dub was wu awakened b by the shouting of or orthe the firemen He ran Into the corridor of ot the tho sixth floor noor and there saw aw a man di directing II di- guests ouest to the fire tire escape When he reach reached cd the fire escape the flames names I were playing about It so o fiercely that h he lie was as forced back Ho He ran to the window Indo from which Leonard Leonard Leonard Leon on ard was Vas hanging and finally mall the heat became so 80 Intense o that he too was WI compelled com corn petted to drop to the roof of ot the building build build- ing two t stories below |